​Morning After Pill Controversy Over Label

The discussion of whether the morning after pill is really an abortion pill continues and the controversy seems far from over. Some of the labels for the pills state that they are “stopping (or delaying) the release of an egg from the ovary.” However, discussions continue over whether taking the controversial pill is equivalent to having an abortion.

Currently, Plan B, its generic, Next Choice and Ella are the morning-after pills sold in the U.S.. All of their labels denote that the pills work by “preventing the release of an egg from an ovary.” So, there is nothing to abort if the egg was never germinated.

In addition, the labels imply that it could hinder the attachment of a impregnate egg to the uterus, which in some people’s eyes means abortion.

On Wednesday, an article in the New York Times compared the mounting data and science and began to wonder if the election-year politic’s is adding fuel to the debate.

Dr. Jim Breeden, President of The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says, “even though the line of thinking that morning-after pills cause abortions has not gone away, the data is irrefutable.”

“We’ve been saying that all along. It’s an important distinction that the morning-after type pills prevent pregnancy by stopping ovulation so there is no fertilization,” Breeden said. “I think it doesn’t go away because there was some uncertainty many, many years ago as to how the method actually worked, so there was speculation that it might have impacted implantation. But nobody knew that– there was no research that showed that.”